Robert Malcolm
News: CKDA
***
1991 - With
ratings declining, it's anchors away at BCTV.
Veteran
newsreaders Robert Malcolm and Doriana Temolo are being moved aside for fresh faces.
Replacing
the 50-year-old Malcolm on the
Soles,
35, will also take over the
Temolo
will be replaced on the Noon Newshour by Deborra Hope.
Veteran
reporter Alyn Edwards is also being reassigned,
although Parsons, BCTV's vice-president of news,
wouldn't be specific about Edwards' new role.
Malcolm,
who has been with BCTV for 19 years, has lunch scheduled for today with
Parsons, his boss. They'll discuss what future role Malcolm will play.
"Between
himself and myself, we'll decide what he wants to do
and where he fits in in the scheme of things,"
said Parsons, the
The 6 and
"There's
no doubt in our minds that our audience is skewing a little bit older than we
would like it to be," Parsons said.
Malcolm,
reached Sunday at his
"I
don't think 50 is over the hill in this
business," he said. "If they can use my 30 years of news sense, where
maybe I can have a say in the on-air product, I'm sure we can work out
something." Temolo, who will move to reporting and producing news features, as well
as work on provincial election coverage, refused to comment on the changes.
The Noon
News Hour also gets an overhaul. Besides Hope taking over from Temolo next week, the show will transform into a lighter
newsmagazine.
Soles,
who won an international Peabody Award during his four-year stint at CKVU, got
fired from the 'VU anchor desk in 1989. He worked as a substitute anchor at
BCTV over the summer and tested well with audiences.
"I
went through this myself so I can feel for Robert," Soles said. BCTV
sportscaster John McKeachie, who's worked the late
shift with Malcolm for 17 years, said he's still trying to understand what's
happening at the station. "Anytime that happens to a good friend, never
mind someone who's a professional like Rob, it's a shock to the system," McKeachie said.
Pete McMartin's feature article on the apparent financial woes
and purgings at BCTV (Six O'Clock
Blues, August 8/92) provided a glimpse into the reality for hundreds of
broadcasters working in radio and television stations throughout B.C.
It is not
unusual, especially in smaller stations, for tight-fisted management to pay
journalists poverty-level wages and encourage them to work unpaid overtime.
Those who
complain, or consider unionization, are blacklisted or replaced by one of the
constant stream of new graduates from the journalism schools. It is not unusual
for management at these stations to routinely censor news that may upset
advertisers.
I was
personally saddened by the unceremonious dumping of Robert Malcolm. He was a
mentor for me in journalism school nearly 15 years ago, spending hours after
his late-night newscast at BCTV to tutor me in my news writing. The firing of
talented journalists like Mr. Malcolm, Allyn Edwards
and Belle Puri makes a mockery of BCTV's
self-serving advertising, and exposes an often hidden underbelly of the
broadcasting industry.
I quit the
news business and returned to university three years ago, sick and tired of the
way the broadcast media exploit and trivialize people and issues. Your story
gave the public a chance to realize they're not the only ones being exploited.
DOUG
BLACKIE
***
There are
the three dismissal suits BCTV faces, one from Margot Harper, one from reporter
Neale Adams (who was also fired May 1) and one from
news anchor Robert Malcolm.
Malcolm
was a 20-year veteran, the avuncular night news anchor who was Mutt to John McKeachie's Jeff. He was taken off the air last September,
two days after he got back from holidays. Malcolm had a following.
"There
were thousands of calls complaining of the move," Malcolm said, "all
to no avail."
Six months
of uncertainty culminated in a heart attack for Malcolm. He had it in the
newsroom. When he returned to work in June, he was informed the only position
available was that of a reporter. He turned the offer down and his employment
with BCTV was terminated.
As for
Harper and Belle Puri, they rebounded quickly. CBC
television news hired them within the month. There, they joined another BCTV
alumnus, reporter Alyn Edwards, a 20-year veteran
reporter who was fired last September, when Parsons informed him they had made
new plans for the fall and Edwards didn't fit them. Edwards took his two
national news awards with him.
"I'm
glad to be out of (there) after 20 years," Edwards said. "I think
it's an operation in decline. They fire their best reporters and hire young
inexperienced reporters who'll work cheap.
"I
think (Black Friday) was a sad day in Canadian television journalism."
pete mcmartin sun
BC Radio History